Each comprehensive examination question should be clearly labeled and start a new page, with the written response to each question starting on top of the following page. Each written examination response should be typed and double-spaced. Each page should have one-inch margins all around and use of Times New Roman 12-point font is recommended. Avoid use of ornamental font elements or script fonts. While there is no required page length for the comprehensive examination, it is essential that each component of the
comprehensive examination question be substantively addressed in accordance with the Comprehensive Examination Evaluation Scoring Rubric. All responses will be reviewed holistically in alignment with grading criteria, regardless of length. However, satisfactory responses to comprehensive examination questions have typical characteristics: A high quality response to a
comprehensive examination question generally incorporates no fewer than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles as sources, avoids referencing more than 3 textbooks and ranges between 12 and 17 pages in length, not including the cover page, question pages, and reference pages. Comprehensive examination responses should generally be limited to no more than 17 pages for
each question, excluding cover page, question page, and reference pages.
Each comprehensive examination response must have its own reference section, which must immediately follow that response in the comprehensive examination document. The reference list for each comprehensive examination response should reflect only the sources used in that comprehensive examination response. Both foundational and recent (published within the last 5 years) scholarly literature should be incorporated into each examination response as applicable. General audience dictionaries and doctoral dissertations are typically not considered peer-reviewed scholarly work and as such should not be included in the 20 recommended references for the comprehensive examination responses. However, one or two dissertations that provide new information that may be of particular relevance to the learners topic may be used in addition to the other references.